Chapter 2

"Vampires?"

The word seemed to slip naturally off of the man's lips as he spoke it. However there was nothing natural about the subject which was being related to him. Pausing for a moment to look at his waistcoat watch, he then gestured for the flustered man sitting across from him to continue his story.

"These events are so horrible; they are the very definition of macabre. I fear they might be too much even for you, sir."

"You observed these events yourself?" he asked.

"What I did not see, I was given account of via an exchange of letters."

"And Dracula?"

The sound of the tea cup rattling against its plate gave away that the man trembled at the utterance of the name. Unable to hold it steady, the man placed the cup and plate he held on the table. His slim fingers brushed his thick beard in an attempt to soothe his nerves.

"That name…it means the Devil."

The gentlemen sitting across from him had listened quietly throughout the story, however he now laughed at this. His thinly arranged moustache made his face appear to be in a perpetual grin, but it was now that he was truly amused.

"I do not exaggerate!" He spoke heatedly but was unable to hide his nervousness.

"No, of course not. Forgive me." The listener apologized curtly. He did not want to seem rude, but it was amusing for him to listen how people described these things. To him they were as mundane and everyday as the top hat which rested on his head. Often he had to remind himself that his top hat, fine black suit and red vest, in the improper location would seem as totally out of place as vampires. They would be as out of place as the tolling of a noon bell at 10:13 in the morning.

A strange phenomenon indeed, he thought to himself. His shaky tea companion also seemed to notice it. They stared at one another, perplexed by the incongruous sound. Together they glanced at the large clock tower which was visible from all parts of the town as it rang.

"How very curious," said the already nervous man.

"Alarming, I would say," the gentleman said in a correcting tone.

"But what does it mean?"

The gentleman stood from the table checking again the watch from his waistcoat. He saw that the man was looking at him, as if hoping for an answer. "It means that time has been broken, and it is up to me to fix it. I shall return in but five minutes. Don't move from this spot." The gentleman smiled broadly as he tipped his hat to the man sitting frozen at the table. The man blinked only for a second and then the curious gentleman disappeared in a flash of light.

"Incredible," he said to himself. But given what he has been prevue to, not unexpected. This Saint Germaine fellow seemed to be just as fantastic a character as those that lived…and died…at castle Dracula.